William dieteb



W. DIETER.

AUTOMOBILE TORPEDO.

APPLICATION FILED AUG/J6, mm

1,303,039. Patented May 6', 1919.

mmmaw in &

INVENTOR By Attorneys,

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM DIETER, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO E. W. BLISS COMPANY,OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF WEST VIRGINIA.

AUTOMOBILE ironrnno.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 6, 1919.

Application filed August 28, 1918. Serial No. 251,398.

To all whom. it may concern:

Be it lmown that I, WILLIAM Dm'mn, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing in the borough of Brooklyn, county 'of Kings, city andState of New York, have invented certain new and useful ImproyementsinAutomobile Torpedoes, of whlch the following is a s ecification.

This invention re ates to a special construction used in automobiletorpedoes such asthe' Bliss-Leavitt torpedo. In such torpedoes, thecompressed air pipe leading from the air flask passes through a chamberbetween the main flask head and a sulpplemem,

tal head, for inclosing the water alcohol required. The engagement'ofthis pipe with the respective heads has occasioned trouble by reason ofleakage of the compressed air.-

or other fluid, a defect which it is the object of the present inventionto overcome.

According to the resent invention, the air pipe has a positiveconnection to one of the flask heads (preferably the mam head) and has aslip ]O111t connection with the other head. The means for accomplishingthis will be made clear as the description proceeds.

Figure I of the accompanvingdrawings p is a fragmentary, longitudinalsection of a torpedo showing the application of the 1nvention;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal mid-section of the pipe connections showing theslip oint in etail- Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line 3-3 mFig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an elevation of-the follower;

Fig. 5 is an elevation of the outer casing of the stufling box;

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal mid-section corresponding to the right-handportion of Fig. 2, showing a modification of the slip J The generalconstruction of torpedo to which the present invention applies is setforth in the Leavitt Patent No. 1,022,486,

dated April 9, 1912, and my Patent No.

1,125,979, dated Janua 26, 1915. a I

Referrin to Fig. 1, is the outer bodv or shell 0 the com'pr air flask, Bis pressed reservoir G, and D is the supplementalhead fastened to theextended portion of the flask A beyond the head B and inclosin betweenthe two heads a chamber E which serves as a water chamber and withinwhich is placed a vessel F constituting an alcohol chamber. Pipeconnections for introducing air to the water and alcohol and for leadingthem to the superheater are not shown in detail.

. G is'the main air pipe for conducting the compressed air from thereservoir C to the engine. This has heretofore been passed throughcentral openings in the respective heads and clamped to' both heads bymeans of nuts. Ordinarily, the enterin end has been enlarged by ,meansof a thic tubular boss H having a flange for clamping against the innerside of the'head B and being screwthreaded to receive a nut I forclamping against the outer. side of this head. The opposite end issimilarly connected to the head D.

According to the present invention, the connections with at least one ofthese heads (prefer-ably with the supplemental-head D) is made a slidingor compensating connection whereby to take up relative movements ue todifferences intemperature or due to the yielding of the respective partsunder varying pressures' Referring to Fig. 2, the pipe G, or pref.

J which is in turn fastened or clamped to the head D as by pipe, or itssection G, slides freely through the part J, which where-it enters thehead is contracted as at L to freely embrace and guide the pipe sectionG. v of thetubular member J receives; within it a ring M and a tubularfollowerP, both of which enter within the enlarged portion of J andinclose the pipe section G Within the member J is an annular chamber (.1which is filled with a yielding packing which may be of fibrous materialpermeated with rubber, grease or other packin substance and which mustbe compressibi e to a cermeans'of a nut K. The

The opposite end either head under pressure,the pipe G being fixedlyattached to only one of the heads, is able to slide at its engagementwith the other while a tightly packed joint is maintained by'mea'ns ofthe packing box or gland described. Thus no strain is transmitted fromeither head through the pipe G to the other head. It results from thisthat the leakage heretofore occurring by reason of the strains due tothe inflexible union of the respective parts, is avoided.

It is necessary to keep the ring M pressed against the packing materialso as to maintain a tight packing. This might be variously accomplished,but a simple construction is that show wherein the pipe section G has aflange outer end of the follower P and thereby holds this follower inposition and keeps the ring M in place to hold the packing comressed. Ifthe head B yields toward the head D, a movement is transmitted throughthe pie G which forces the follower P and ring in the same direction,and this move- 'ment is taken up by the yielding of the packing Q tocompression.

' It is desirable that a non-rotative connection be established betweenthe pipe G and the head D so that on screwing up the usual nipple awhich connects the section b of the compressed air pi e to the end ofthe pipe G, the turning e ort shall not rotate the pipe G and therebypossibly unscrew it at its connection with the head B. To provide such anon-rotative connection, I preferably form the tubular member J withlugs or fingers 0 c on opposite sides which enter notches or recesses dd in the follower P so that the follower is kept from turning relativelyto the member J In turn the pipe section G has a non-rotative engagementwith the follower by means of a key a engaging grooves in theserespective parts, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The member J being tightlyclam ed to the head D, it follows that thepipe or its pipe section G, isfirmly held against rotation.

A modified construction of the invention is shown in Fig. 6, where themain com-' pressed air pipe G (-here lettered G is connected to one endof a multiple diaphragm S and the other end of this diaphragm isconnected to a nipple T which is clamped by means of a nut to the headD. The connection of G. with the diaphragm S is made through the mediumof a collar U screwed fast to a threaded flange on the pipe and havingits end 7' entering the end convoluwhich abuts against thetion of thediaphragm and soldered securely thereto. The opposite end of thediaphragm has its end convolution soldered to a corresponding annularlip g, from the nipple T. The diaphragm S is of well-known constructionas applied to expansion members, being capable of yieldinglongitudinally as the pipe G moves relatively to the head D.

It is to be understood that while the pressure in C initially exceedstwo thousand pounds (2,000 lbs.) per square inch and is a diminishingpressure during the run of the torpedo, the pressure in E F is asubstantially uniform pressure of approximately pipe and one of saidheads whereby to allow 'for movement of the air pipe relatively to suchhead.

2. The structure of claim 1, the air pipe being fixedly secured to onehead and hav* ing a yielding connection where it passes through theother head. 4

3. The structure of claim 1 comprising an expansion joint between theair pipe and one of said heads.

4. The structure of claim 1, theair pipe having a slip joint connectionwith one of sa1d heads, and packing means to prevent leakage between theipe and head.

5. he structure of claim 1, with a stufling box at the passage of theair pipe through one of said heads.

6. The structure of claim 1 with a stufiing box at the passage of theair pipe through one of said heads and means reactin against the airpipe for holding the stu fi ing box under compression.

7 The combination with an air flask and ma n and supplemental heads, ofan air pipe fastened to one head and having a sliding connectlon throughthe other, and a stuffing box packing such connection, comprising aninclos ng member, a follower therein for confining the packing material,with an en-' gagement between the air pipe and said follower for holdingthe packing under compression.

8. The structure of cl aim 1 with means for making a non-rotativeconnection between the pipe andhead.

9. In a torpedo, the combination of a flask having a main head and asupplemental head and an air-pipe fastened in said main tive engagementwith said pipe and said head and passing through said suppletubularmember. mental head, and a stuffing box comprising In witness whereof, Ihave hereunto a tubular member fastened to the suppiesigned my name.

5 mental head and inclosing the pipe, a packing therein and a followerhaving non-rota- WILLIAM DIETER.

